Amendment delaying entry of Mexican trucks faces veto

| Tuesday, March 27, 2007

A bill that includes a provision to delay the Mexican motor
carrier "pilot project" already faces a presidential veto - and it hasn't even
passed the Senate yet.

The amendment to delay the opening of the U.S.-Mexico border
to 100 Mexican motor carriers - with an unlimited number of trucks - was
included in the supplemental appropriations bill that was approved by the
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on March 22.

While the bill is currently being debated by the Senate, the
White House issued a "Statement of Administrative Policy" threatening to veto
the bill if it makes it to the president as-is.

"Because
of the excessive and extraneous non-emergency spending it contains, if this
legislation were presented to the president, he would veto the bill," White
House staff pointed out in the statement.

While
there were numerous other amendments attached to the supplemental
appropriations bill, the amendment to delay the opening of the border was one
of the amendments specifically addressed by the White House staff in the
statement.

"The
administration strongly objects to language intended to block the
implementation of cross-border trucking provisions as required under NAFTA.
Since 1995, the federal government has spent over half a billion dollars,
primarily in hiring safety inspectors and building inspection facilities along
the border that will ensure that implementation can be carried out safely and
consistent with Congressional direction," staffers wrote in the statement.

"The
failure to implement this international obligation would hurt American
shippers, consumers and long-haul truckers."

That
argument doesn't hold water with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers
Association - a strong supporter of the amendment.

"Furthering
a misguided international obligation is hardly justification for ignoring the
very valid safety and security concerns that opening our border presents," said
Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president.

"That
flawed logic makes it all the more important to communicate your support of
this amendment to your senators immediately."